BitTorrent uses its own set of specialized terminology to describe various aspects of how its system works. If you really want to understand what’s going on, it can be helpful to understand what the terms mean.
Seeds: This is the machine that initially distributes the shared file. Technically, any partner that has 100% of the shared file becomes the seed.
Equal: This is the machine that downloads the shared file and then shares parts of the file with other peers. When you run a BitTorrent client on your machine to get a file, you are running a peer.
Female: A portion of a shared file, which can be combined with other portions when reassembled into a usable complete file.
Torrent: Torrent is used in two ways. When specified with the word file (as in “torrent file”), it is a file containing metadata describing all the parts of the shared file and its checksum (authentication) data. When used on its own (as in “I downloaded a torrent of Ubuntu”), it means the shared file (and all its parts).
Meet again: This is the entire network sharing one file, including all partners and seeds.
Monitor: This is a server that keeps track of the seeds and peers in the swarm. Trackers are not usually involved in the actual transmission of data, but act as an index or search engine for people looking for torrents. Trackers are often the target of legal action, as they are seen as facilitating illegal file sharing.
Leech: This is the term for a peer who does not share parts of a shared file. Essentially, this is someone who wants to download a file using BitTorrent, but does not want to do their part to support the herd. Some leeches on very low bandwidth connections cannot download and share, so they download first, then share. But most leeches simply choose to be “bit piggy” and download files without paying anything in return.
Health: Don’t confuse the BitTorrent term “health” with the quality or safety of a file. In BitTorrent, health means how much of the file is downloadable (anything below 100% health means you’re not getting the full file today). Don’t assume that something that shows 100% health is virus-free, for example. This also highlights one of the downsides of torrenting: Not all files are fully downloadable. You may have to wait for a peer to come along with missing pieces, or, for less popular files, you may never get those missing pieces.
Fake: A file that fakes what it claims to be. Generally, it is a file that contains malware or is just junk bytes, designed to attack users or improve upload rates.
Ratio: This is a measure of how much data you have uploaded. Sometimes trackers use this measure to allow more access to more files.
UNIVERSITY: People are often confused by this. UNIVERSITY stand for Onion Router and has nothing to do with BitTorrent. Since TOR is an anonymous way to communicate over the Internet, some people torrent over TOR. But the TOR Project and BitTorrent are two completely separate things.
Did I miss any important torrent terminology? If so, let us know in the comments below.
